Saturday, December 22, 2012

"Do not be afraid, you have found favor with God"


The angel said to [Mary], "Do not be afraid, you have found favor with God.  You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever."
--Luke 1:30-33
New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S VERSE
Jesus is identified by many names stated or implied in the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John). Notice how Jesus is identified in just this one passage:  child, son, Jesus, great, Son  of the Most High, King, son of David, and leader of Israel (Jacob).  Jesus exhausts all descriptions, and yet chose to be limited to imperfect descriptions by becoming human.  But this flood of names and descriptions helps us find Jesus a Savior in every trial and blessing of life.  Jesus is Savior for all seasons.

MY PRAYER
Holy and Almighty Father, I thank you for all the ways Jesus is described and all the names he is given. They help me see the breadth of his nature and the depth of his character. Please bless me so I may always find a dimension of Jesus' ministry or a name or description of Jesus to help sustain me, when I walk through the shadows of doubt caused by the evil one.  Help me, O Father, to see Jesus and not my preoccupations and biases so that when he comes again, I will know him, and he me.  Through the glorious name of the Savior I pray.  Amen.
No More Hiding
Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
Genesis 3:9
           
After Adam and Eve fell into sin, they heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden. What did they do? They hid themselves from His presence.
There is something God wants us to learn here about sin-consciousness: It makes us hide from Him when He actually wants to hang out with us. It makes us feel like we’ve fallen off His radar. It makes us feel afraid of Him when the safest and most comforting place in the world is in His presence.

Adam was sin-conscious. He said to God, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10). Now, this nakedness was not just physical. Adam saw himself unworthy of God. He was aware of his sin. He never had this awareness before. Prior to his act of disobedience, when God came into the garden, he would hang out with God without any sense of uncleanness. Then, he became conscious of his sin and ran away from God’s presence.

Beloved, God wants to hang out with you. But you can’t have an intimate relationship with Him when you are sin-conscious and feeling unworthy in His presence. The good news is that Jesus’ blood has removed all your sins and made you righteous. And God is so pleased with His Son’s sacrifice that He will by no means remember your sins (Hebrews 10:17). So come out of your hiding place and hang out boldly with God. It’s in His presence that you are empowered, refreshed and recharged. It’s in His presence that you receive from Him!
By: Joseph Prince

source:
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Jayson Cabrera Gali
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